CONTRIBUTOR: Shahjahan Alhassan - 14th July 2002
E-mail, chat and mobile messaging all suffer from the problem of not being able convey the mood or tone of words being sent.
The words "You idiot!" could either be taken offensively or as a joke but with the use of smileys the feelings behind the words can be expressed.
Not only that, smileys can be used for more than just expressing emotions.
Visit one of the many chat rooms available and experiment with some of the smileys below.
Smileys
| Smiley | Meaning |
| Most common | |
| :-) | Happy/smiling |
| ;-) | Winking/cheeky/sarcastic |
| :-( | Sad/upset/depressed/angry |
| Faces/emotions | |
| O:-) | Angel/innocent |
| 0*-) | Angel winking (female) |
| 0;-) | Angel winking (male) |
| @:-} | Back from hairdresser |
| :~-) | Bawling |
| (:-) | Big face |
| :-X | Big wet kiss/lips are sealed |
| (:-D | Blabber mouth |
| ?-( | Black eye |
| :-] | Block head |
| |-O | Bored/yawning/snoring |
| %-6 | Brain dead |
| :^) or :~) | Broken nose |
| :-(=) | Bucktoothed |
| ;-( | Chin up |
| :-S | Confused |
| H-) | Cross-eyed |
| :'-) | Crying |
| :-@! | Cursing |
| >:-> | Devilish |
| :-e | Disappointed |
| :*( | Crying softly |
| :-)~ | Drooling |
| :*) or :#) | Drunk |
| <):-1 | Dunce |
| :-6 | Eating something spicey |
| :") | Embarrased |
| >:) | Evil |
| >-) | Evil grin |
| 1:-O | Flat top loud mouth |
| :-! | Foot in mouth |
| :-W | Forked tongue |
| :-Þ | Grinning with tongue out |
| %-) | Happy drunk |
| :-~) | Have a cold |
| %*@:-( | Hungover with headache |
| :0 | Hungry |
| :) | Kid |
| :-D | Laughing |
| (-: | Left-handed |
| ?-: | Left handed tongue touching nose |
| |-( | Lost contact lenses |
| X-( | Mad |
| &-1 | Makes me cry |
| :-(*) | Makes me sick |
| |:-) | Monobrow |
| :-{) | Moustache |
| :-3 | Moustache (handlebars) |
| ):-( | Nordic |
| ':-) | One shaved eyebrow |
| ,:-) | One shaved eyebrow (opposite) |
| :^) | Personality |
| :-C | Really unhappy |
| >;-> | Rude suggestion |
| :-@ | Screaming |
| :-o | Shock/uh-oh! |
| :-V | Shouting |
| :-/ | Skeptical |
| |-I | Sleepy/sleeping/going to sleep |
| :-Q | Smoking |
| :-? | Smoking a pipe |
| %-) | Staring at the screen for 10 hours |
| <:-I | Stupid |
| :-& | Tongue-tied |
| :-a | Tongue touching nose |
| :-\ | Undecided |
| /:-) | Wearing beret |
| :-# | Wearing braces |
| :-}X | Wearing bow tie |
| d:-) | Wearing cap |
| q:-) | Wearing cap backwards |
| [:-) | Wearing headphones |
| :-{} | Wearing lipstick |
| B-) | Wearing sunglasses |
| B:-) | Wearing sunglasses on my head |
| {:-) | Wearing a toupee |
| People & Characters | |
| :-)^< | Big boy |
| :-)8< | Big girl |
| =|:o} | Bill Clinton |
| C=:-) | Chef |
| :-.) | Cindy Crawford |
| *<):o) | Clown |
| O-) | Cyclops |
| 5:-) | Elvis |
| ;~[ | Fighter |
| :^{= | Frank Zappa |
| (_8(|) | Homer Simpson |
| ?:^[] | Jim Carrey |
| >:-1 | Klingon |
| 8:-) | Little girl |
| :-) :- | Man |
| @@@@:^1 | Marge Simpson |
| +<:-) | Pope |
| +:-) | Priest |
| -:-( | Punk |
| -:-) | Punk rocker |
| ([( | Robocop |
| [:] | Robot |
| o[-<]: | Skateboarder |
| -(8)(0)=8 | Tellytubby |
| =|:-) | Uncle Sam |
| :-[ | Vampire |
| :-E | Vampire (bucktoothed) |
| :-F | Vampire (bucktoothed with one tooth missing) |
| -=#:-) | Wizard |
| :-)8 > | Woman |
| Animals | |
| :>= | Beaver |
| 8^ | Chicken |
| :3-] | Dog |
| .\/ | Duck |
| 8) | Frog |
| :8) | Pig |
| :( | Turtle (sad) |
| :<= | Walrus |
| Objects | |
| @>--;-- | Rose |
| @};--- | Rose |
| Other | |
| (((H))) | Big hug |
| (__!__) | Fat ass |
| Straight-on Smileys | |
| @^_^@ | Blushing |
| G(-'.'G) | Fighting kid |
| *^_^* | Huge dazzling grin |
| >^,,^< | Kitty |
| @(*0*)@ | Koala |
| T_T | Major tears |
| <(-'.'-)> | Puppy |
| [-_-] | Robot |
| $_$ | Seeing money |
| ^_^; | Sweating |
| q^_^p | Wearing earings |
| O_O¬ | Wearing glasses |
| ^_Q | Wearing monocle |
| ^_- | Winking |